Institute of science and the Environment Newsletter Spring 2015

Geosciences in

(L-R) Matt Baker, PA Representative, Steve Crawford, Trustee, MU President Fran Hendricks, Jared Berken, SGA VP,

Mackenzie Hafer, Incoming Student Trustee, Jonathan

Bagg, Student, Geosciences, Nick Semanco, Student, Melissa Netzband, Student, and Dr. Andy Shears, Geosciences.

3-D

Spring semester of 2015 has been a whirlwind time in the Department of Geosciences, as innovative use of new equipment has brought the department international recognition. By experimenting with a 3D printer to produce accurate topographic models and raised-relief maps, students and faculty have collaborated to develop several new map production methods, which may achieve as many as five utility patents.

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s a result, the collaborative research team of geoscience professors Lee Stocks and Andy Shears, and geoscience students Jonathan Bagg and Wesley Glowitz, have received substantial regional press coverage, a campus award for excellence, and an opportunity to discuss the project with Pennsylvania legislators in Harrisburg.

Additive manufacturing, or “3D printing,” is a relatively new technology that allows the creation of tangible objects from digital plans created on a computer. The printer creates objects by melting a plastic filament and extrudes this liquid plastic into layers called “slices.” These slices are then stacked atop each other until an object is created.

New experimental uses of the technology have included the assembly of custom replacement organs in the medical field. Mapping with the technology, though, has largely been overlooked. Until now.

In November 2014, the Tioga County Board of Commissioners approved a grant from Act 13 funding to support the purchase of a 3D printer for the Department of Geosciences at Mansfield University.

The grant, coordinated by Tioga County GIS Department Director Scott Zubek, was designed to allow mapping students at MU to experiment with new three-dimensional mapping methods made possible by the new technology. At the time of the printer’s purchase, MU Geosciences became one of three such departments in the United States to have dedicated access to this kind of equipment.

According to Shears, “We were originally the only non-research intensive institution with one.” Since then at least two more have followed our lead.

In mid-February, the investments paid off, with the successful production of the department’s first 3D map, the northern end of the Pine Creek Gorge (“Pennsylvania Grand Canyon”),

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Institute Partner Highlight: Mill Cove, Inc. One of the partners the institute has cultivated this year is Mill Cove, Inc. Two geoscience professors, Dr. Lee Stocks and Lilace Guignard, joined the board, and the connection has provided both Mill Cove and Mansfield University with increased opportunities.

“Joining forces has allowed us to leverage our resources,” Guignard explains. “We each help the other make a greater impact in terms of environmental education and community outreach.”

For instance, the Mill Cove Excellence in Science and Education Grant targeted at Mansfield University students has been around for years but was not well known.

The institute is getting the word to students, and two geoscience students from Troy Clayton Schucker applied in Fall. Mill Cove awarded Matthew Oldroyd and Clayton Schucker, under the guidance of Dr. Linda Kennedy, a $300 grant to establish permanent reference sites for gathering data pertinent to the physical characteristics of the approximately 1km Matthew reach of Mill Creek, located within the Oldroyd Mill Creek Environmental Area. Oldroyd and Schucker presented their findings at the Annual Showcase of Student Scholarship on April 22, Earth Day and will present them to the Mill Cove Board in May. Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Stocks are preparing an application for a Dominion Higher Education Grant to do further study on this section of Mill Creek, providing Mill Cove, Inc. useful data, and giving Hydrology and Environmental Impact Assessment students hands-on learning opportunities.

Mill Cove, Inc. had been awarded a $30,000 grant from Shell U.S. to do a teacher training on environmental education, and a summer day camp on the same topic.

Dr. Scott Davis, professor of chemistry, and Chuck Colby, Associate Vice President of Residence Life at Mansfield 1

University who are also on the Mill Cove Board of Directors wrote the grant. Dr. Davis was in charge of the teacher training, but no one had been chosen to head the camp. When Guignard and Dr. Stocks joined the board, they suggested that the camp be residential, with two nights at MU and two camping out at Mill Cove, and so Earth Camp: Science & Environment was set for July 12-16, 2015. This replaces the Marcellus Camp, which had low enrollment for the last couple years. At Earth Camp, MU professors and Mill Cove representatives will provide educational activities to 30 seventh and eighth graders from the region completely free, thanks to Shell.

Campers will receive an introduction to the natural world through hands-on classes, outdoor recreation, teamwork activities, and films.

More information is available at www. mansfield.edu/camps/.

Another idea that grew out of talks at the Mill Cove board meetings was to hold an environmental education day for local juniors and seniors in high school interested in science and natural resources. Dr. Stocks and Guignard applied for and received a DEP Environmental Education grant for $2993 to increase environmental literacy.

According to Dr. Stocks, “This project aims to inspire environmental learning and stewardship.”

To be scheduled for a day in September, Environmental Education Day 2015 will connect educators and industry specialists with greenminded students to foster understanding and awareness of environmental issues, explore methods for assessing and inventorying the environment, and highlight careers available to them in various fields. This project will partner the resources of Mansfield University faculty and staff, with the 250-acre Mill Cove, Inc. Environmental Area for a day of hands-on, participatory environmental instruction and interaction. The event will be limited to 5 local high schools and 125 students with sufficient environmental interest and background. The event will support the goal of environmental education by creating an environmentally literate culture, prepared to make wise, informed decisions and take continued on page 2...

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positive action on behalf of the environment. The grant will provide educational resources, materials, and transportation necessary to enable these environmental activities.

In addition to these events, Mansfield University had an even greater participation in Mill Cove’s Earth Day activities this year. And the partnership has led to more professors knowing about the many ways in which the Mill Cove Environmental Area can be used free-of-charge for student activities, whether research for courses or simply enjoying the area for outdoor recreation. This past fall Guignard took students camping, and one young man had his first campfire s’more. “Some things just can’t be learned from books,” she says. Like marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers, Mill Cove and the Institute of Science and the Environment at Mansfield University are even better together.

Institute Assists Student Researchers

This year the Fifth Annual Showcase of Student Scholarship was held on Earth Day, April 22, 2015, and the Institute joined as a co-sponsor for the first time. More than 120 students were chosen to share their scholarship through poster presentations, oral presentations, art & media exhibits, poetry readings, and musical performances.

The Institute offered to provide financial assistance to students presenting posters on research pertaining to science, the outdoors, environmental sustainability, and/or natural resources. Students had to apply and design a poster. In this way students received experience preparing for a professional conference, and the Institute covered the cost of the poster printing, and in some cases supplies for the project. The Institute of Science and the Environment also provided light refreshments during the event.

The following students and projects received funding: Abbey Westfall, Alexis Anderson, Jordan Mattison, and Gabriella DiMartino - Biology

Foraging and Sentry Behavior in House Sparrows

Patrick Homan - Geosciences; Environmental Science Concentration

Coastal Erosion of Louisiana

Joseph Mandeville - Chemistry; Forensic Concentration

Electrochemical Detection of Lead in Gunshot Residue

Danielle Gilbert - Biology & Psychology

How Green is MU?

Nathan Harpster - Geosciences; Environmental Science Concentration

Environmental Geophysics Investigation of Hammond Lake Ice

Kyle Cuddeback - Geosciences; Environmental Science Concentration

Bioremediation of Wastewater Using Duckweed

Jacob Peffer - Geosciences; Mapping Technology Concentration

Juvenile Crime and Sports

Joseph Campbell - Geosciences; Mapping Technology Concentration

Topical Crime Mapping of Williamsport, PA

Nathan Harpster - Geosciences; Environmental Science Concentration

President Hendricks is talking with Kyle Cuddeback about his research on the ability of duckweed to remove nitrate and phosphate in municipal wastewater.

Geophysical and Geospatial Mapping of Tioga County Cemeteries

Jonathan Bagg – Geosciences; Outdoor Recreation Leadership Concentration

Evolution of Cartography

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Data Visualization with Ned Gardiner

By Christopher Oliver-Nez, Geosciences student

The Institute of Science and the Environment brought Ned Gardiner from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to Mansfield University as a part of our Earth Days programing to discuss climate-related issues and how visualization helps us understand data.

Gardiner is the visualization manager for NOAA’s Climate Programs Office, and is a producer for www.climate.gov, a website for climaterelated information. He visited campus for two days, attending classes, including Advanced GIS, and talking with students.

Gardiner’s main presentation on April 8, “Communicating Science Through Data Visualization,” was well attended with almost every seat in the new auditorium in Grant Science Center filled. Students who attended ranged from Biology majors to Geoscience majors to Graphic Design majors. The large turnout showed that Mansfield “Humans see University students are genuinely concerned about climate-related issues, especially pertaining to global patterns, and warming. by linking Gardiner’s presentation included satellite images which showed collected data on carbon dioxide images in and other greenhouse gas emissions. Rather than using conventional graphs to show data, the team at sequence, NOAA uses satellite images to show how the earth’s atmospheric temperatures have steadily increased over time, and how those projections will look in the future if we continue on the same trend. we can show “Visualizations condense material (data) into a medium people can take in quickly,” Gardiner patterns in explained. “Humans see patterns, and by linking images in space over sequence, we can show patterns in space over time. When you see time.” a changing biosphere or climate over a century timescale, people understand the effects of greenhouse gas emissions, and how those emissions effect the earth’s climate. People can then think about processes they never thought of before, which may help them make good informed decisions when it comes

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to emissions of greenhouse gases by humans.”

A surprise guest came to one of the talks to get some advice. Jim Weaver, Tioga County Planner, came hoping to get insights about ways to approach the county’s water planning challenges more holistically rather than piecemeal. “I can see clearly now,” Weaver said afterwards. “Ned really took the blinders off for me on several important issues I’ve been struggling with. Thanks so much for creating that opportunity!”

That’s exactly what Gardiner’s job is—to help people to see the data, to understand it, and then use that information to make decisions and develop a strategy to deal with anticipated challenges and opportunities.

Gardiner has narrated a series of short videos that can be found on NOAA’s website at toolkit.climate.gov. These are aimed at helping people understand how they can use NOAA data themselves. For more information, go to www.NOAA.gov.

Earth Days Held at MU It’s a big planet. It deserves more than one day.

A new tradition was initiated this year—a series of events April 8-18 that aim to increase scientific literacy and raise awareness of environmental sustainability. Along with Ned Gardiner, the Institute brought in interdisciplinary scholar, social justice activist, and performing artist, Peterson Toscano. In addition to attending classes, Toscano and several religious leaders held a Forum on Religion and Climate Change. Toscano performed his comedy “There’s Something Funny About Climate Change” at the student activities venue, the Hut, to a full house. Community members as well as students attended both events.

Students on the Sustainability Committee organized Tie Dye for Sustainability in the South Hall Mall on campus. The goal was to re-purpose old cotton clothing, and the students had instructions for how to make different designs. There was a public screening of the award-winning documentary Chasing Ice, chronicling how National Geographic photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Emily Krafjack of COGENT gave the last of the Speakers of Tomorrow talks, reporting and interpreting the latest DEP air quality data. Krafjack, a member of the Marcellus Resource Council, was recently appointed to serve on the PA DEP Oil and Gas Program’s Technical Advisory Board.

The final event was Earth Day at Mill Cove, where students and professors from across campus had booths with educational and fun activities. An estimated 1,000 people attended, the largest turn out so far.

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Institute Helps Bring Students and Industry Together Through Internships The Institute of Science and the Environment plays a significant role in promoting and expanding internship opportunities for Mansfield students. Over the past year the institute has helped to establish internship affiliation agreements with a broad spectrum of companies and organizations in fields including environmental consulting (Hurst Environmental, Whipper Hill Consultants), safety Andrew Grace, a geoscience management (REM student, started working Security & Safety, with the U.S. Army Corps Tri-State Trucking), of Engineers as a Seasonal energy (Regency Gas, XTO Energy), Ranger intern in the Summer and government of 2014. From that agencies (US internship he was ACE, PA DEP). offered the job of The institute Administrative and also helps to Office Support bring potential assistant. This internship position is part time opportunities to the attention during school, full of interested time during winter, students, and summer, or spring connect students break, and then a with appropriate full time position opportunities when he is finished to best fit the with school in needs of both the student and May 2016. He will the host company graduate with a double major or organization. in Environmental Science and An internship Watershed Management. experience can provide one of the

Internships Lead to Employment

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most significant boosts to a student’s education, and can help to jump-start a career by bringing talented students to the attention of employers in their field.

By continuing to expand internship opportunities and affiliations with partner companies and organizations, the Institute of Science and the Environment is helping to improve career prospects for graduates, create meaningful affiliations with partner agencies and companies, and target workforce needs across Pennsylvania.

For every 40 hour Internships can provide increment of onstudents with a unique the-job experience, opportunity to develop a student can earn applied skills, experience one credit-hour actual on-the-job conditions, of internship or and establish professional practicum course contacts. All of these help credit toward their to burnish a student’s program of study. resume and can make a real difference in securing a first job and starting a career in their chosen profession after graduation (see sidebar).

Mansfield University offers options for both non-credit internships (that provide experience but do not count toward a student’s degree requirements) and for-credit internships or practicums that contribute toward a student’s specific program requirements. These are typically unpaid internships.

For every 40 hour increment of on-the-job experience, a student can earn one credit-hour of internship or practicum course credit toward their program of study. For example, internship experience can be used to satisfy the capstone degree requirement in the two-year A.A.S. degree in Natural Gas Production and Services, or as elective credit toward the four-year BS in Safety Management or BS in Geosciences degrees.

Each internship experience is tailored to provide the greatest benefit to an individual student’s career interests and experience, as well as the opportunities and constraints inherent to a particular position with the host company or organization.

For more information about internship opportunities in programs at Mansfield, or questions about setting up an internship affiliation agreement with the University, please contact Chris Kopf, Director of Grants and Research at the Institute of Science and the Environment (ckopf@mansfield.edu).

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measuring approximately 11”x11”.

The first map print brought an unexpected response. By publishing the results online, Shears was inundated with email, social media and phone messages from all over the world, congratulating the team for creating the method, and requesting instructions on how to replicate the print.

By distributing the finished plan for this print digitally, the northern extent of the Pine Creek Gorge was successfully printed in several US states, in Canada, England, Australia and South Africa.

(L-R) Commissioner Erick Coolidge, Dr. Andy Shears, Jonathan Bagg, This first model, while demonstrating the potential Commissioner Roger Bunn, Commissioner Mark Hamilton, Dr. Lee Starks,Tioga County GIS Department Director Scott Zubek. for printing maps using the technology, was important in another way: it showed, almost accidentally, a new institution were invited to meet with legislators about their application for printing these maps. scholarship.

“What we saw was that the slices, by complete accident, Even while these recognitions were taking place, the seemed to infer contour lines,” Shears explained. “Because group continued to push forward with new ways to utilize we’re very careful in cartography to avoid accidental the technology for mapping purposes. Together, Bagg inference of data that’s simply not represented, our next goal and Shears used their preliminary methodology to create became to embrace and utilize those slices as part of the a complete raised-relief map of Tioga County. This map design.” Working collaboratively with student Bagg, Shears served as the point of innovation for the next patentable developed a method for controlling exactly what elevation application, developed primarily by Bagg, to use digital each slice represented. The result was a method that is projection technology for overlaying other dynamic mapping subject of the group’s first patent application. data on the model.

“That equation [explaining the method] is crazy and A third potential patent was uncovered as these efforts complicated,” Bagg said, “but it works every time.” continued. While producing another model, the group ran In early March, MU Geosciences welcomed the Tioga out of the filament color being used to create the model. By County Board of Commissioners to the department for changing the filament to a different color mid-production, a demonstration of the technology and presentation of the group stumbled upon another cartographic method – the results. The group was further recognized by the hypsometric maps, or maps where elevation is symbolized MU Council of Trustees, who invited Bagg, Glowitz by different colors – a method impossible without the and Shears to present their work at the March meeting. production technique that the MU team pioneered.

Following the presentation and a demonstration of the The next project in queue is to produce a scaled model technology, they were each awarded the Coin for Excellence of the Pine Creek Gorge and an accompanying display for

by MU president Francis Hendricks in a small ceremony donation to the Tioga County Board of Commissioners, recognizing the achievement. In mid-April, Bagg and Shears in gratitude for funding the project. After that, other represented Mansfield at the 2015 PASSHE Advocacy projects include a map of campus for the visually impaired, Day in Harrisburg, where delegations from each PASSHE floodplain management applications for Tioga County, and use of new data acquired by NASA of Ceres and Pluto to produce 3D maps of alien worlds.

MU Coin for Excellence

Awarded

(L-R) Trustees Chair Ralph Meyer, Andy Shears, Jonathan Bagg, Wesley Glowitz, MU President Fran Hendricks, Trustee Robert Strohecker, Trustee Karen Russell. Lee Stocks was not available for the presentation.

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Institute of Science and the Environment

Belknap Hall Mansfield University 45 Wilson Street Mansfield, PA 16933

www.mansfield.edu/ise

Marcellus Resource Council members, don’t forget to join us Tuesday, November 5!